Maya Weug drove an excellent and highly competitive 2025 F1 Academy season, finishing as the championship runner-up after a fierce, season-long battle with Champion Doriane Pin. Weug proved her mastery of speed and resilience, achieving three race victories and claiming a season-leading three pole positions.
The season concluded in a dramatic showdown in Las Vegas, where the title fight went down to the wire, but a mistake cost Weug the opportunity to snatch the championship.
Fastest over one-lap pace
One of Weug’s defining strengths throughout the 2025 F1 Academy season was her raw speed. She claimed three pole positions in Shanghai, Zandvoort, and Singapore, which was unmatched by any other driver in 2025. Her dominance was clear from the opening round in Shanghai, where she took pole by nearly half a second. Although she lost the lead and finished P2, she still secured valuable points to begin her campaign.
In Jeddah, the Ferrari Driver Academy talent delivered again, rising from P4 to claim her first win in Race 2 and firmly establishing herself as a key title contender.
Her most commanding performance came during her home race at Zandvoort. Starting from pole in Race 2, Weug executed a flawless lights-to-flag victory, winning by 7.333 seconds. This was the second-largest margin in F1 Academy history.
The Montreal misstep
Weug’s title hopes took a major hit during the Canadian GP weekend. An electrical issue in Free Practice carried over into qualifying that left her settling for P15 on the grid. Adding to the setback, she suffered a mechanical retirement in the postponed Miami race, which was held in Montreal. Across the three races of the round, she scored only eight points. Meanwhile, Pin collected a win and other strong finishes to extend her lead to 37 points.
A dominant comeback
Despite the setback, Weug mounted a remarkable recovery. A four-race podium streak and consecutive Race 2 victories in Zandvoort and Singapore cut Pin’s advantage to only nine points heading into the final weekend in Las Vegas.
Her Singapore victory was particularly memorable. After starting from pole and losing the lead, Weug refused to give up. In a rain-affected finish, she completed a dramatic last-lap overtake on Pin to take a sensational win, reducing the championship gap to 15 points.
The Las Vegas finale
With everything to play for, Weug needed a strong finish in Las Vegas. Starting P3 for Race 1, her hopes took another blow after an early-race incident collision with Tina Hausmann resulted in a DNF. Although she recovered brilliantly to finish P3 in the final race of the year, Pin’s Race 1 win had already effectively sealed the championship.
Weug ended the season as the well-deserved, yet understandably disappointed, Vice-Champion.
What’s next for Weug?
Weug’s future marks an important and promising shift away from single-seater racing and into professional GT competition, supported by both F1 Academy and the Ferrari Driver Academy. As she has reached the two-season limit in F1 Academy, she will now step up into a different series.
Her status as championship runner-up earned her a fully funded GT3 test from F1 Academy. She completed this opportunity in a Ferrari 296 GT3 with AF Corse, Ferrari’s highly successful and long-standing partner team.
Weug also continues to hold the distinction of being the first female driver in the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, a position she has held since winning the FIA Girls on Track Rising Stars programme in 2021. Her next move will take her into high-level GT or endurance racing, where she will continue her development at the top level.
